The Compute Module 3 (or CM3) is a shrunk down version of the Raspberry Pi3 designed for use in industrial and commercial appliances. Its small form factor is the perfect candidate for a handheld. Although there are many homemade and commercial handhelds available that contain the full size RPi3 board, they tend to be very chunky and can have a somewhat “made in the garage” feel to them. We’re definitely not spoiled for choice when it comes to Compute Module handhelds, although I have covered two on this blog previously in the form of the FreePlay CM3 and Creoqode’s Lyra.
cm3
Creoqode’s Lyra is a very expensive RPi3 handheld
The Raspberry Pi Compute Modules have never gotten much love from manufacturers of obscure handhelds. In many ways they’re the perfect candidate for driving these things – the software is already there, the developer community is large and active and best yet, it’s almost guaranteed that a substantial hardware improvement will be released once every few years.